Persona 6: Outbreak
by Minakoto Yukisato
Summary: People are dying from a mysterious illness in a rural Georgia town. Philip Wheeler and his new friends must awaken to their Personas to try and find the source to mysterious illness and stop it.
1. Chapter 1

Persona 6: Outbreak

 **Minakoto here with a new story. This is my own standalone Persona story. I was going to post my P5 story first, but I'm going to have to delay it for a bit. I will post it in the next couple of days. I just wanted to get this one out as soon as possible. Now I want to be perfectly honest. I got the idea of this story from a YouTuber called Cross Paw Games. I think that's his name. But I decided to take that and add my own flare and twist to it. And this story will take place in America because those kinds of stories are extremely rare. But anyway, let's get to the story.**

August 31- evening – Sunday – Atlanta airport

It was nine o'clock in the evening. A teenaged boy was sitting alone in the waiting room. He had short curly strawberry blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. He was wearing a Rush T-shirt, blue jeans, and green hi-top sneakers. His name was Philip Wheeler, seventeen years old. He was tired from the long plane ride. He was from Canada. His parents were sent to Japan as a part of their job. An old friend of his mother's who lived in a rural Georgia town decided to take him in for the year. He was just waiting for her.

He was about to nod off in his seat until someone walked up to him. "You must be Philip." He looked up to see a middle aged woman who looked quite pretty for her age. She had long brown hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a yellow sweatshirt, a black skirt, and black dress shoes.

"Are you my mom's friend?" Philip asked the woman.

"Why yes I am. My name is Patricia Hoffman. It's a pleasure to meet you." Patricia introduced herself in a very friendly tone.

Philip got up out of his seat and grabbed his luggage. "You're more handsome in person than in your photo. If I were only twenty years younger." She giggled. "You must be really tired. Let's get you to my house so you can rest in a comfortable bed. Follow me." Philip followed Patricia out of the building and they got into a yellow Mazda 6.

"So your mother's working overseas? It must be rough to leave home and have to stay at a straight place for a year. But you'll love Adamsborough. It may be small, but it's so peaceful."

An hour later, they arrived at a medium sized house. "This is our lovely home." Patricia said. "Come on in!" She said, unlocking the door and letting him go in first. "I'll give you the grand tour." She said. "This is the living room." In it was a black leather couch and a large flat screen TV. There were framed pictures on the wall. There were some with Patricia, middle aged man with black hair, which he assumed was her husband. There was another one with Patricia and a little girl with short orange hair. The little girl wasn't smiling in it, though.

"And this is the kitchen." It was nice looking kitchen with marble counters and an electric stove. At the kitchen table there was a girl sitting there eating a cup ramen. She looked about his age. She had short orange hair and teal eyes. She was wearing a Sword Art Online T-shirt and short shorts. He could tell just from the shirt she was an otaku. Not that that was a bad thing. He was an anime fan, too, and none of his friends back in Canada were into anime.

"And this is Stephanie." Patricia said, pointing to her.

"Stephanie, this is Philip. He'll be staying here with us for the rest of the year. Say hi." She said.

Stephanie didn't say anything, she just waved her hand.

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" Philip asked Patricia.

She shook her head. "She doesn't speak at all."

"Is she mute?" Philip asked.

"No, she can talk, but she just doesn't. She hasn't spoke in years. Because of what happened to her…" She trailed off.

"What happened to her?" He inquired.

"I can't say in front of her. I'll tell you another time." Patricia said. "A-Anyways, you must be so tired. I'll show you to your room. Your stuff should already be up there. Philip followed her upstairs.

"This is your room." She said, opening up the door. The room had a queen sized bed and a bunch of cardboard boxes were by a desk in the corner. "You look like you're about to collapse. You get on to bed, okay?"

"*yawn* I'll do just that."

"Tomorrow will be your first day of school. So get some rest. Good night." She said, closing the door.

Philip changed into his PJs and went to bed. He fell asleep as his head hit the pillow.

He woke up to find himself to find himself in a hospital room. The walls were purple. "Huh? How did I get here?" He asked to himself. He turned his head to see an old man sitting in a desk. He had on a black suit, grey balding hair, bloodshot eyes, a long nose and a nightmarish grin. There was a woman standing beside him. She looked like she was in her twenties. She had on blue nurse uniform. She had long silver hair and yellow eyes.

"Welcome to the velvet room, my dear young man." The man said.

"W-Who are you…?" Philip asked, completely dumbfounded.

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man named Igor introduced himself. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. I hope summoned you to speak of important matters. A terrible catastrophe is imminent. If you do not take action, your future will be forever lost. You will soon awaken to your power, and your recovery will begin." The man said ominously.

"What are you talking about?" Philip asked

"Please forgive my negligence. This is my assistant. Her name is Victoria." He completely ignored his question.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Philip." She said in a drone like voice.

"Our time here is up. We shall meet again. *chuckle* I look forward to it."

"Hey you never answered my question…!" Was what Philip said before he lost consciousness.

Chapter 1 end

 **I hope you enjoyed this.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **I'm back with a new chapter. I got more of a positive reception on this story than I thought. So I thought I upload my second chapter. I'm going to uploaded this at least twice a week. It's going to be a while before my P5 story is going to be done. Anyway, here it is.**

September 1 – early morning – Philip's room

The alarm clock went off on the nightstand, waking Philip up. "*yawn* That was the weirdest dream in my life. What the hell was that Igor dude on about? A terrible catastrophe, my recovery… Well whatever, I don't want to be late." He said, getting up, changing into a T-shirt with "The best in the world" written on it, a pair of blue jeans, and the same pair of shoes. He went downstairs into the kitchen. Stephanie was sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Philip." Patricia greeted, putting two bowls on the table and pouring golden grahms into the bowls and pouring milk in it.

"Mornin.'" Philip greeted back, and he sat in a seat across from Stephanie.

"Today's the first day of school. You must be sad your summer break is over. But you'll really enjoy your new high school. I just know it." She said reassuringly. "So hurry up and finish your breakfast. You don't want to be late. You'll be going to Birch High, it's walking distance from here. Stephanie will show you the way. Is that okay with you?" She asked.

Stephanie merely nodded. The two teens finished their breakfast.

"Have a good day at school, you two." Patrick greeted the two goodbye as they walked out the door.

Philip couldn't see much in the car because it was real late. But now walking around, he thought the town was quite nice. It was small, but there were tons of farms and so much vegetation around. It was definitely different from Toronto.

They came to a crossroad. Stephanie pointed straight.

"Is it that way?" Philip asked.

She nodded.

"Do you also go there?" He asked.

She shook her head. She pointed to another direction.

"You go to a different school that way?"

She nodded.

"Oh, well, seeya later." He said.

She nodded her head and walked the other way.

Philip kept walking until he reached the school gate. He took a good look at it building. It was pretty small. Well, it was small compared to the school at his hometown. He was about to walk through until he heard someone struggling. He followed the voice to a vending machine by the bike rack. There was a boy about his age. His hand was stuck in the bottom so he couldn't get off the ground.

 _I better help him._ He thought to himself.

"Can someone help me out here?" The stuck boy asked out in an Italian accent. He had brown hair in a pompadour and brown eyes. He was a jean jacket over a black shirt, slacks, and brown dress shoes. "I gotcha." He grabbed him and started pulling. "One, two, THREE!" He pulled hard, managing to pull him out.

"Hey, thanks! I owe ya, dude!" The boy said gratefully.

"You okay?" Philip asked.

"Sure thing!" The boy said with a goofy grin, doing a thumbs up. "I tried getting a snack, put the piece of shit machine wouldn't give me my drink, so I tried gettin' it and my hand got stuck."

"Hm, I ain't seen you around here before. You a new kid?" He asked.

"I'm Philip Wheeler, a transfer student from Canada." Philip said.

"I thought so. I'm Vinnie Pacino, how you doin'?" The boy named Vinnie said. They then fist bumped. "Oh shit! We're about be late! I'll make it up to ya, I promise!" He said, running toward the building.

Philip went to his assigned classroom. Room 13. He opened the door. The teacher was standing in front of the marker board. She looked in her early twenties. She had dark skin, bobbed black hair, and black eyes. She wore a grey business suit.

"Ah, you must be the new student, Philip Wheeler."

"Yes, ma'am." Philip replied.

"I'm Miss Greenwood. Please introduce yourself to the class." She said.

"Hello there. I'm Philip Wheeler. I hope to be good friends with you all."

"He's pretty handsome." A girl was whispering. Philip heard it, though and he blushed.

"Alright, alright, stop embarrassing him, class!" Miss Greenwood said. "Please take your seat anywhere."

While Philip was look for a seat, he passed by a girl who had a dead look on her face.

He ended up sitting in the back beside a girl with love dirty blonde hair and ruby eyes. She was wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and tight fitting blue jeans.

"Hey there." The girl said. "Where did previously live?" She asked.

"Toronto."

"Must suck having to live out here in the sticks, huh?"

"It's not that bad." He replied.

"I'm Natalie Thompson. Nice to meet you." She said.

"You can talk when class is over." Miss Greenwood said.

September 1 – lunchtime – Birch High cafeteria

Philip got his tray of food and went to the register. He was going to pay for it until someone got in front of him and handed the lady a dollar bill.

"I'm payin' for this dude's meal." A familiar voice said.

"You didn't have to do that, Vinnie." Philip said.

"Yeah I did. I told ya I was gonna make up for it somehow." Vinnie said.

"Thanks." Philip said smiling.

The two sat down at a part of the table that was empty. "So what are ya doin' in a dump of a town like this?" Vinnie asked him.

"Because of my parents' work. They're highly respected researchers." Philip replied.

They were making small talk.

"So have you heard about the abandoned hospital?" Vinnie said.

"Abandoned hospital?"

Vinnie nodded. "Yeah. There are rumors that it's haunted and if you enter it, you'll come down when some mysterious disease because the ghost of a dead patient will possess you."

"Isn't that an urban legend?" Philip asked.

"Yeah, but don't it sound interstin'? You wanna check it out after school tomorrow?"

"Um…I'm not sure…" Philip said.

"Oh come on. Where's your sense of adventure? It'll give ya something to do in this place."

"Fine." Philip finally caved in.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Vinnie said excitedly.

They continued small talk until lunchtime was over.

September 1 – after school

The rest of the day was completely uneventful, so Philip decided to go home.

Philip and Vinnie decided to go to the local arcade and spent several hours there. Philip destroyed Vinnie at Gun About.

September 1 – evening – Hoffman residence

"I'm home." Philip announced as he entered the house. He thought Patricia would greet him home, but that wasn't the case.

He went in the living room to see Stephanie sitting on the couch playing on a Vita.

"Hey, Steph." Philip greeted her. She simply put her hand up in a greeting fashion.

"Where's Patricia?" Philip asked, sitting beside her on the couch.

Stephanie opened a note pad app on her Vita and typed "night job"

"Oh, okay. What does she do?" He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

The local news was on TV.

"... although he was not previously charged." The anchorwoman said on the TV. She sounded like she wanted to die.

"And now to other news. An Atlanta home was broke into and a suspect was caught. The suspect was twenty year old… *cough* *cough* *wheeze*" She started vomiting blood and she fell out of her chair. A technical difficulties appeared on screen.

Philip and Stephanie looked on in horror. "What the hell just happened!?" Philip exclaimed.

It was late, so Philip decided to go to bed. He just hoped that anchorwoman was okay.

Chapter 2 end

 **Next chapter, you see Philly awaken to his Persona.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Another day, another chapter! I wasn't going to upload another of this until the end of the week, but people have enjoyed this story way more than I thought, and I just felt like it. So, here it is.**

Tuesday – September 2 – early morning

"Mornin'." Philip said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Philip, look at this." Patricia said, standing behind Stephanie looking down on her phone. Philip went over and saw the local news playing on the smartphone.

"Yesterday, our colleague Cassandra Milano succumbed to a mysterious illness. She died at the hospital. She was 24 years old, the youngest anchorwoman in the history of Channel 11 News. She had joined the news team only four months ago." The anchorman said.

"It's a tragic to lose someone so young and beautiful." Patricia said somberly. The report ended and Stephanie turned off her phone. "It must have been horrifying to watch that. I hope you two are okay." She said.

"You weren't here last night. Were you working?" Philip asked.

"Were you worried about me?" Patricia said giggling.

"What do you do?" He inquired.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." She completely dodged his question. "Now you two go on to school. After you finish your breakfast."

They went on to school after finishing their breakfast.

Philip arrived at the front of the school to see Vinnie standing by the gate.

"What's up, man?" Vinnie said.

"Nothing much." Philip replied back.

"Dude, did you see the news last night? That anchorwoman just died on live TV. That was pretty fucked up."

"Yeah, it was."

"People are already talkin' about it. They said she died from some weird illness." Vinnie said. "Anyways, we still checkin' that place out?"

"You know it." They fist bumped each other.

They then proceeded to the building

September 2 – morning – Birch High – Room 10

Today Philip was in history class. He and Vinnie were in that class and sat beside each other. Natalie and that depressed girl were also there.

"Alright, quiet, class." The history teacher was a man in his fourties. He had balding brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a plad sweater vest over a white dress shirt, grey slacks, and black loafers. "I'm Mr. Stone. My job is to teach you hooligans history. You should be happy I'm wasting my time reforming punks like you. I bet you're not even paying attention to me right now. Probably day dreaming because that's what worthless trash like you is good at. "Hey, Pacino! Answer this question. What is a methuslah?"

"H-Huh…? Uhhh…" Vinnie stammered.

"The oldest man in the Bible." Philip whispered.

"Uh…The oldest man in the Bible?" Vinnie answered.

"So you knew it. Well, you're correct. But I bet someone was helping you, probably that foreigner sitting beside you." Mr. Stone said.

 _This guy is a total asshole._ Philip thought to himself.

September 2 – lunchtime

"Come on, today's taco Tuesday!" Vinnie said.

"Alright, let's go." Philip replied. He was about to walk out of the classroom until he saw Natalie standing over the depressed girl's desk. "Hey, are you going to cheerleader practice today, Mary?" Natalie asked the girl.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not feeling well today." The girl named Mary said.

"Maybe getting something to eat will make you feel better." The blonde said.

"I'm not hungry." Mary replied.

 _She's acting similarly to that anchorwoman that died on live TV. Is it a coincidence or…_

"Hurry up, man!" Vinnie's voice rang out.

September 2 – after school

Vinnie led Philip to the abandoned hospital. It was a small building. It was in decrepit condition.

"This is the place." Vinnie said.

"It looks like it hasn't been used in years." Philip said.

"Yeah, it was abandoned when the big hospital down the road was built thirty years ago." Vinnie said.

"I'm not too sure about this…" Philip said.

"It'll be fine! There's no such thing as ghosts anyway! Now come on."

The two opened the door. The entrance was a waiting room. It was dusty and full of cobwebs.

"Wow, what a dump." Vinnie mused.

"I hope I don't get some kind of disease here." Philip said.

"It'll be fine. Come on, let's see what's in here." Vinnie went to open the doors to the hallway, but was having a hard time. Philip tried to help him. With all their strength, they managed to force them open, but were sucked in a reddish blackish portal.

"Whoooah!" The two screamed.

Philip woke up to find himself on the ground. "Where am I? Is this still the hospital?" Philip asked himself. He saw to look he was in some strange huge looking place. (If you try to imagine what it looks like, it looks like the Tartarus Arqa floor)

"Hey, Vinnie? Vinnie!?" He called out to him, but got no answer. "Did we get separated? I need to find him."

The dungeon like area was pretty big. He went through hallway after hallway. It looked almost endless. He found a lot of dead ends. Strangely, in one of them, there was a small chest that had $100 in it.

While he was walking, a strange black creature appeared in front of him.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Philip panicked, falling on his butt.

He got up and tried to run away until another creature appeared in front of him. He was surrounded.

"What do I do!?" _Am I going to die here?_

" _So you just plan on giving up and letting these abominations kill you?"_ A mysterious voice called out in his head.

He started clutching his head. _What the fuck's going on? "Answer my question? Do you want them to kill you? Or will you fight? You want to find your friend, correct, then call upon me! Am I Thou, Thou art I…If you wish to get through this crisis, call my name !"_

"No, I'm not going to die here. Come, Asclepius!" Blue energy surrounded him and something appeared behind him. A robed man with a black mask and glowing yellow eyes. He had Philip's red hair and a beard of the same color and green skin. He held a staff in his hand with live snakes wrapped on the top of it.

The black blobs then turned into pumpkins holding lanterns. "Garu!" Philip commanded. Asclepius raised his staff. The snakes hissed a small tornado hit one of the pumpkins, knocking it down. Philip then curb stomped its head, killing it and it dissipated.

The pumpkins behind him blasted him with fire, severly burning him. "Heal my wounds, Dia!" The snakes bit into his arms, overflowing him with green energy. His burns healed and his pain stopped. The pumpkin tried to blast fire again, but Philip rolled out of the way. "Blow him away!" He casted Garu and knocked it down. Philip punted the pumpkin, sending it flying several feet and hitting the wall, dissipating on impact.

"Huh, huh huh…" Philip's Persona faded, and he was trying to catch his breath.

"I gotta find Vinnie." Philip didn't know what those creatures were, but with this new power, he could fight them. He just hoped those things didn't get to his friend.

He kept moving until he heard a voice. "Will you jerks give it a rest!?" It didn't sound like Vinnie's voice, but if there was someone else in here, he had to help them. He followed the voice until he found a bunch of those creatures surrounding someone. It was a girl. She looked about his age. She had long white hair and green eyes. She had on a Japanese sailor school uniform and a long black skirt. It was strange to see a girl wearing a Japanese school uniform in America. But that wasn't the weird thing. She had rabbit ears. But regardless of how weird she looked, she was in trouble and had to help her.

"Hey you! Get out of here! The Shadows will kill you!" The creatures turned around. "I'm not gonna leave you to die. Persona!" Asclepius appeared behind him.

"What!? He has a Persona!?" The bunny girl exclaimed.

The creatures turned into mandrakes. "Garu!" He commanded. The tornado hit them, but it didn'g do anything.

"Looks like I'm going to be the one to help." She said, jumping over the Shadows and landing beside him. "Set them on fire, Mad Hatter!" She commanded. A man appeared behind her. He had on a black top hat, a red trenchcoat over a black suit, a black mask with glowing red eyes and holding playing cards in each hand.

"She's got one, too!?"

The Mad Hatter threw a card at the mandrakes. The card burst into flames, burning the mandrakes and knocking them down.

"Come on, let's get em!" She exclaimed. They both rushed at the creatures and a cartoonist smoke appeared. When it cleared, the creatures dissipated.

"So you have a Persona, huh?" The girl asked.

Philip nodded. "Who are you?" He asked him.

"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself before asking a lady?" The chastised him.

"I'm Philip Wheeler."

"I'm Alice."

"So what were those things?" He asked.

"Those creatures are called Shadows. They attack anyone who comes in here." Alice explained.

"Shadows?"

"They're the suppressed sides of you humans." Alice said. "So why did you come here?" She asked.

"Me and my friend heard rumors about this place and we came to investigate. When we opened the door to the hallway, we ended up separated.

"Oh, no wonder I sensed two people in here." She said.

"Can you take me to him?" Philip pleaded.

"Fine. Follow me." She said.

Philip continued to follow Alice. Shadows attacked them here and there, but they were able to get through them with no problems.

Alice brought him to a large square. Vinnie was there.

"Vinnie!" He was standing there. But something was wrong. There was another Vinnie. And this one had ominous yellow eyes.

"Look! It's your so-called friend." The other Vinnie said tauntingly. "You can't do anything by yourself. You're just the bastard son of a mobster that left you in this shithole of a town. Everyone avoids because of that fact. You came here because there was nothing to do in this fucking pathetic dump."

"That ain't true!" The real Vinnie exclaimed.

"Are we in denial here? Did I hit a soft spot? You can't do anything by yourself. Your friend had to come and rescue you." The Shadow taunted.

"Shuddup! You ain't…!"

"Don't say it!" Alice warned.

"You ain't me!"

The Shadow started laughing maniacally. A red aura surrounded it and it transformed into something disgusting. It had grey skin, it had the head of a pig and the body of a man. It had a giant gold ring around it and it had drums attached to it.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Philip exclaimed.

"This is what happens when a human denies their Shadow. It goes berserk and turns into a monster!" Alice explained.

"Get out to the way, Vinnie!" Philip yelled.

Vinnie quickly crawled away from the monster.

"We have to beat in order to calm it down!" Alice said.

"I am a Shadow! The true self! I've been really bored lately. Killing you two would relieve that boredom!"

Shadow Vinnie grabbed the gold ring and put it around his waist like a hoola hoop. The Shadow started banging on the drums lightning struck the two, knocking Philip down.

"Come on, get up!" Alice said, helping Philip up.

'How do ya like that!?" The Shadow taunted. "Time to charge up!" The Shadow surrounded itself with blue energy.

"W-What's it doing!?" Philip asked.

"This is bad! It's charging up! It's next attack will be twice as strong! It'll kill us if we don't defend!" Alice exclaimed.

Philip did as told and blocked, as well as Alice.

"Take this!" Shadow Vinnie started banging on his drums again and lightning hit them. They reduced the damage, but were gravely wounded.

"A-Asclepius, Dia!" Philip commanded. The medicine god's snakes bit into Alice's arm, healings her.

"Why didn't you heal yourself?" Alice said perplexed.

"I-I didn't want you to die. Besides, it's just the gentlemanly thing to do." Philip replied.

She started blushing. "T-Thank you. Here, take this." Alice, took out a bottle of strange liquid.

"It'll heal your wounds."

He drank it and he suddenly felt better.

"Seems you can't take lightning. Time to buff you up. Mad Hatter, Rakukaja!" Her Persona appeared, it dropped a card near Philip's feet and a purple energy surrounded him.

"There, I increased your defense." Alice said.

"Thanks. You're going to play for that you bastard!" Philip exclaimed. "Asclepius, Garu!" His Person's staff hissed and a small tornado appeared at hit it, knocking the Shadow down.

"All right! It's weak to wind! Let's get it!" Alice exclaimed. They rushed at it with cartoon smoke appearing.

It cleared, and the Shadow was still standing, but it was hurt.

"Y-You think you can beat me!? I'm not going to lose against you punk asses!" The Shadow said, getting up. "Sukukaja!" A green energy surrounded it.

"Agi!" Alice commanded, her Persona threw a flaming card at the Shadow, but he dodged it.

"Dammit! It dodged!" Alice exclaimed.

"You ain't gonna be able to hit me!"

"Garu!" Philip casted Garu, but the Shadow jumped over the tornado.

"Sonic Punch!" Shadow Vinnie exclaimed, hitting Philip in the gut. Philip keeled over, coughing up blood.

"Philly!" Alice yelled.

The Shadow then casted lightning on Alice, wounding her.

 _I have to do somethin'! I can't let them die because of me!_ Vinnie thought to himself. He got up on his feet. "Hey, me!" Vinnie called out to the Shadow.

"W-What's that idiot doing!?" Alice exclaimed.

"You want to kill me, right!? Then come and get me!" The real Vinnie taunted.

"You want to die that badly, huh? Alright, then I'll take you out!" The Shadow had its sights on the real one and had its back turned.

"Come on, let's get while it's distracted!" Alice exclaimed."

"Y-Yeah… Let's do it." Philip said, getting up.

They both summoned their Personas.

"Asclepius!"

"Mad Hatter!"

Asclepius summoned a tornado and Mad Hatter threw a card in the tornado, setting it on fire. It became a large flaming tornado.

"What are you-" The Shadow turned around but was too late. The Shadow screamed in agony as it was not only hit with its weakness, but it was also being burnt. The Shadow collapsed to the ground and turned back into its human form.

Philip used the last of his energy to heal both their wounds.

"Is it over?" Philip asked.

"As long as he accepts it." Alice said.

"What you said was the truth. I'm the son of a mobster and that pieces of shit left me in this town. And because of that, everyone ignores me. I was desperate for anyone who would acknowledge my existence. So yeah, you are me, and the other way around.

The Shadow transformed again, but this time it was different. He had the same pompadour that Vinnie had, but its hair was also in a bun. It still had grey skin, it was wearing a yellow kimono with lightning patterns on it, wearing a brown breastplate. It was holding rods its hands, and a taiko drum attached to its back. It faded into a card and disappeared in Vinnie's hands. "Raijin…" He muttered.

"You all right?" Philip asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Vinnie replied. "So what was thing you did?"

"Those were our Personas." Philip said.

"A Persona is another side of your self. Your own Shadow that you accepted." Alice explained.

"Uh, yeah. Who's this girl, Phil?" Vinnie asked.

"This is Alice." Philip said.

"What the hell are you wearing? And what's with those rabbit ears?" Vinnie asked, tugging her ears.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" Alice screamed, slapping his hands away. "Anyways, it's not safe here. I'll show you guys the exit."

A few minutes later, the three arrived back at the waiting room.

"Thank fuck we're back!" Vinnie said.

"So what exactly are you?" Philip asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember anything about me, all I remember is that I've been here for a long time." Alice said downtrodden.

"What the hell is this place anyway?" Vinnie asked.

"This is where the Shadows live. It doesn't really have a name." Alice said.

"You say that Shadows come from humans?" Philip asked.

She nodded. "But when humans come here, Shadows will attack. So why did you two come here?"

"We heard rumors that people come down with a mysterious illness when they come here because a ghost of a patient possesses you." Philip said.

"It's not a rumor. People's spirits end up here. When their Shadows kill them, the person in the real world will die." Alice explained.

"Uh, hey. Did you sense any of those spirits here?" Philip asked.

"I did, but this place has multiple floors. They were deep within and I couldn't get there in time." Alice said.

"Them?" Vinnie asked.

"One disappeared yesterday, and the other disappeared right before I met you."

"Is there any way to know if they're about to die?" Philip asked.

"They'll lose the will to live and die within two weeks."

"Then that anchorwoman, and that other person…!" Philip exclaimed.

"Philly?" Alice asked, concern. "We gotta prevent more deaths from happening." Philip said.

"I'm with ya, man! We gotta save people's spirits." Vinnie agreed.

"If you guys are getting to keep coming back here, I might as well be your guide." Alice said.

The three's feelings become one. Time suddenly froze.

 **Am I thou**

 **Thou art I**

 **Thou hast established a new bond**

 **Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas on The Fool arcana**

Time went back to normal.

"But you guys better get out of here. The Shadows are more restless than usual." Alice said.

"We better get home then. I'm pooped." Philip said.

"But what about you?" Vinnie asked.

"I'm gonna stay here just in case any spirits get lost in here." Alice said.

The three decided to break for the day

September 2 – Hoffman residence – evening

Phone greeted Stephanie watching TV in the living room. Stephanie waved her hand. Patricia wasn't there. He assumed she was at her night job.

He plopped down on his bed as soon as he was done changing. _One of those people was the anchorwoman, but who was the other one?_ Philip asked himself. He was too tired to think about it, so he fell asleep.

He ended waking up in the velvet room. "This place again…" Philip mused.

"I am delighted to see you again." Igor said. "It seems you have awakened to your Persona. It is a mask you wear that protects you from hardships. But your power is quite special. It is like the number 0. It's empty, but contains infinite possibilities."

"What are you talking about?" Philip questioned.

"You, my boy have the power to hold multiple Personas and use them accordingly." Igor explained.

"What do you mean?"

"I will explain my role to you at another time. You must be tired. I won't keep you here longer. Until then, farewell."

"Hey wait-" Was all he said until he lost consiousness.


	4. Persona stats

**This isn't a new chapter, I just wanted to make a bio for the party's Personas so far since these Personas have never been in any Persona games. At least not according to my knowledge. So here it is.**

Asclepius

Arcana: Fool

Affinities:

Strike:

Slash:

Pierce:

Fire:

Ice:

Wind: strong

Lightning: weak

Water:

Earth:

Nuclear:

Psychic:

Light: immune

Darkness:

Skills:

Garu

Dia

Tarunda

Posumudi

Raijin

Arcana: Magician

Affinities:

Strike: strong

Slash:

Pierce:

Fire:

Ice:

Wind: weak

Lightning: strong

Water:

Earth:

Nuclear:

Psychic:

Light:

Darkness:

Skills so far:

Bash

Zio

Sukukaja

Mad Hatter

Arcana: Fortune

Strike:

Slash:

Pierce:

Fire: strong

Ice:

Wind:

Lightning:

Water: weak

Earth:

Nuclear:

Psychic:

Light:

Darkness:

Skills so far:

Agi

Rakukaja

Dekunda


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Wednesday – September 3 – early morning

"Alright, see you later, Steph." Philip said as they parted ways. He was about to walk straight until he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey man!" He turned around to see Vinnie walking up to him. "You know dat girl?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's my guardian's daughter." Philip replied.

"Hey, uh… Thanks for savin' me yesterday. You learned about my past and ya still helped me." Vinnie said.

"It was nothing." Philip said, scratching his head.

"Anyway, remember what that rabbit girl said? People are dyin' from this illness. The doctors can't do shit, so we're da only ones that can do somethin' about it."

"You're right. It has to be us." Philip said.

"Haha, can't do it without ya, dude." Vinnie said smiling.

The two fist bumped each other. Time froze.

 **Am I thou**

 **Thou art I**

 **Thou hast established a new bond**

 **Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician arcana**

Time went back to normal.

"What's your number? I'll call ya when I wanna hang out."

The two exchanged numbers.

"Hey, do you hear sirens?" Philip asked.

"Yeah, they're comin' this way."

An ambulance went flying by them.

"That ambulance came from the direction of the school!" Vinnie exclaimed.

The two ran towards the school.

When they arrived at school, they went to the front office. "Excuse me ma'am. We saw an ambulance coming past us. Did something happen?" He asked the lady at the desk.

"You must be Philip Wheeler, the new student from room 13. Since it involves your class, I guess I can tell you. Mary from your class had an attack and collapsed.

Philip gasped.

"Dat name sounds familiar…" Vinnie said, putting his fingers on his chin.

"She's Natalie's friend!" Philip said.

"Oh, her!"

The two hurried out and raced to the classroom.

The two went in to see custodians cleaning up vomit and blood. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight.

"Do you think…?" Vinnie asked.

"I don't know. I just hope it isn't what we think it is…" Philip trailed off.

"Please stay out of the room until they cleaned up." Miss Greenwood said, walking behind them.

"What happened?" Philip asked her.

"We're not sure yet. I always knew something was wrong with her. I should've done something earlier…" She said.

"Don't blame yourself, ma'am." Philip said.

"Thank you, but I'm her teacher. I'm supposed to help my students. Anyway, class is cancelled until they cleaned up in there." She said, walking away.

September 3 – morning - room 13

It took them about ten minutes to clean up the mess and class resumed.

"Now everyone, turn your books to page 18, we're going to cover-" Miss Greenwood's lesson was interrupted as the principal's voice showed up on the intercom.

"Everyone, I'm afraid I have a horrible announcement for you all. 11th grader of room 13 Mary Rodriguez collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. And I'm also afraid to say we have worse news. Mary has passed away. Today, we will cancel classes. Please go home and be with your families."

"No…" Miss Greenwood collapsed to her knees.

"Mary!" Natalie screamed, running out of the room.

"You gotta be kidding…" Philip muttered.

The two met up by the lockers outside.

"God fucking dammit!" Vinnie exclaimed, punching a locker. "We vowed we weren't gonna have another victim!"

"We should've noticed something was wrong with her, but it already too late by the time we awoke to our Personas." Philip said.

"The rabbit should've at least told us who it was!" Vinnie said.

"What about a rabbit?" A female voice said behind them.

They turned around to see Natalie, her ruby all puffy.

"N-Nothing!" Vinnie stammered.

"Don't nothing me!" Natalie exclaimed. "I heard you guys talking about Mary, and about how you knew something was wrong with her! You know something! Tell me!"

"Should we tell her?" Vinnie asked.

"This was her best friend. She has the right to know." Philip said. Vinnie nodded. "You may not believe me, but…"

Philip and Vinnie explained everything to her. "So her Shadow killed her at the abandoned hospital!?"

"Told you you wouldn't believe me." Philip deadpanned.

"No, I believe you. You seem like a guy who wouldn't lie." Natalie said. "If so, then I'll make it pay!"

"It's dangerous in there, dumbass!" Vinnie said.

"Fine! If you're not going to go there, I'll avenge her myself!" Natalie ran away.

"We better stop her!" Philip exclaimed, Vinnie nodding.

The two chased Natalie out of the school. They were about to catch up to her until a red light appeared and they had to wait until they were allowed to cross.

Five minutes later they arrived at the abandoned hospital.

"Where is she!?" Vinnie asked.

"She probably already entered the Shadow world." Philip said.

The two managed to pull the doors open and entered the portal.

Thankfully, this time they didn't get separated.

"I wonder where that rabbit girl is…" Vinnie said.

"I have a name, you know." A female voice said. Alice walked up to them. "Philly!" Alice then proceeded to glomp him.

"Why aren't you glad to see me?" Vinnie asked, a little jealous.

"Because you're a vulgar jerk that abuses rabbits!" Alice said.

"You little…!"

"We're not here to fight!" Philip exclaimed, gently pushing Alice off of him. "We're here get someone out of here. D id you sense a girl come in here?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. I was trying to look for her until I sensed you two coming in." Alice said.

"Can you take us to her?" Philip asked.

"Yeah, I'll lead you in the right direction. But before that, I'll give you guys this." She handed then surgical masks.

"What are these for?" Vinnie asked.

"To protect you from being infected. The Shadows have all sorts of diseases. If you have these on, you should be okay."

Philip put on the black one and Vinnie put on blue one.

"But why aren't you putting one on?" Vinnie asked.

"I don't need one. I've lived here for a long time, but never gotten sick. I don't know why, though." She said.

"In any case, we need to find Natalie." Philip said.

"I since her on another floor above us. The staircase is a little ways away. The Shadows shouldn't bother us that much. They're not that strong, but they fight in numbers. So be careful." Alice explained.

"Roger that." Philip replied.

The three ran through the corridors until a Shadow appeared in front of them. It turned into two black bicorns.

"Time I take this baby for a spin." Vinnie said, crackling his neck. "Strike 'em down, Raijin!" The thunder god appeared. It grabbed the taiko on its back, beating on it with its rods bringing a lightning bolt down on one of the bicorns. "And again!" Vinnie commanded, striking down the other. "Bada boom, baby!"

"Looks like You're more useful than I give you credit for, Vinnie." Alice complimented.

"Let's get them while they're down!" Philip ordered the party. The three rushed in with an all out attack, finishing them both.

"Bad ass Persona, man!" Philip said.

"You know it!" Vinnie said, them high fiving.

Vinnie picked up $5 the Shadows dropped. "Looks like they drop cash. If I keep beating up Shadows, I'll be rich!" Vinnie said, his eyes turning into dollar signs.

"I found $100 in a chest." Philip said.

"You serious!?" Vinnie exclaimed.

"Yep." Philip said, showing him the Benjamin Franklin in his pocket.

"You can find all sorts of things in here. That's how I found that medicine I gave you yesterday. I have no idea why these things appear, though." Alice said.

"We should look out for any chests we find. There could be useful items in there." Philip said.

"You're so reliable, Philly!" Alice gushed.

They continued through the hallway until they saw another Shadow.

"It's not looking this way. Let's try to get the jump on it." Alice whispered. The other two nodded. "We'll need something to strike it with, though."

"Good thing I got this." Vinnie said, handing Philip a switchblade.

"Now rip its mask off. That'll disorient it." Alice said.

Philip tiptoed behind the blob. He forcefully grabbed it and used the switchblade to cut off its mask. It ended up turning into a pixie.

"Now strike it down!" Alice ordered.

"W-Wait! Please! Don't kill me!" The pixie said.

"It can talk!?" Vinnie asked.

"Shadows come from humans, so of course they can talk. If you corner or ambush them, they may try to negotiate with you because they don't want to die."

"Alright. Then give me some money." Philip said, brandishing his switchblade at the pixie.

"You'll let me go if I give you something ?" The pixie asked.

"Cough up what you got." Alice demanded.

"Uh, I actually don't have anything on me right now." The pixie said.

"Then we might as well kill you." Alice said.

"Please! Wait! I beg of you! Let me go! I'll do anything!" The pixie pleaded.

"Alright, we'll let you go." Philip said.

"You mean you'll let me go? You're so kind! Wait… I remember now!" The pixie said getting up.

"What's happening?" Alice asked.

"I'm not actually a Shadow. I belong to sea of the soul of humanity. My name is Pixie!" The pixie transformed into a card and disappeared in Philip's hands.

"What the hell happened?" Vinnie asked perplexed.

"That Shadow just became his new Persona. I didn't even know it was possible to have more than one Persona." Alice said. "I knew there was something special about you!" She glomped Philip again.

The three proceeded through the corridors. They didn't have much trouble with the Shadows. All they dealt with were Pixies and those mandrakes. Philip tried to convince one of the mandrakes to become his Persona, but failed to get it. It only gave him a strange looking fruit. He managed to a total of $50 from all the ones they fought. Who needs a job when you can extort Shadows for it, right?

They managed to find the stairs and went up them.

"She's right over there." Alice said, pointing straight.

They found her in the same looking place as Vinnie. Her Shadow was there, too.

"Natalie has one, too?" Vinnie asked.

"I told you already that everyone has a Shadow, dumbass." Alice said.

"Are you all right, Natalie?" Philip asked her.

She didn't say anything.

"Look at that! All eyes are on you again! Guys just totally flock around you and because of your looks. You don't have any other redeeming qualities after all. You're just the airheaded cheerleader that all the girls in school hate you for." Her Shadow taunted.

"T-That's not true!" Natalie exclaimed.

"So you're gonna deny the truth? Well, here's some more truth for you. You act like you want to avenge your friend, but you just came here because you wanted to prove you're not useless!" The Shadow said.

"You don't know anything! You're…"

"Don't say it!" Philip warned.

"You're not me!"

"Hahaha!" The Shadow then transformed into a monster. It turned into a giant dove's body with Natalie's torso and exposed chest. "I am a Shadow! The true self! Lookey here, we got some boys. Why don't we have some fun?" The Shadow said in a seductive voice.

"What the fuck!?" Vinnie exclaimed.

"Don't let her appearance distract you. Saving Natty is top priority!" Alice said.

"Do you boys like what you see?" The Shadow said, hitting the boys with a pink beam.

The boys had hearts in their eyes.

"This is bad. They've been charmed. Snap out of it, guys!" Alice exclaimed.

"Please kill that bunny girl, my lovely slaves!" Shadow Natalie commanded.

They turned their sights on Alice. Philip took out his switchblade. He continuesly swiped at her, but she dodged it. "Forgive me, Philly!" Alice said, kicking Philip in the gut out of self defense. Vinnie summoned his Persona. Raijin struck with its rods, but Alice backflipped out of the way.

"You move around a lot, but let's see you dodge this!" Shadow Natalie said. She flapped her wings and summoned a title wave at Alice, hitting her and sending her colliding into a wall next to the real Natalie. "D-Damn, what am I supposed to do?" Alice muttered.

"Now finish her off!" The Shadow commanded. Philip summoned Asclepius and Vinnie summoned Raijin.

 _I have to do something!_ Natalie thought to herself.

"Stop!" She exclaimed, getting in front of Alice and putting her arms out protectively.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked.

"You want to kill me, right!? Then leave the bunny girl alone! Isn't she supposed to be your friend!? Please, snap out of it!" Natalie exclaimed.

"What?" Philip said, coming to his senses.

"What have I been doing?" Vinnie asked.

Natalie's voice somehow got through to them and they snapped out of it.

"Thank god! That thing there took control of you two!" Alice said, getting up.

"I'm gonna get you back for this, you fucking bitch!" Vinnie exclaimed. "Zio!" The lightning bolt hitting it in succession.

"Time for payback!" Philip said. "Garu!" The small tornado hitting as well.

"Mad Hatter! Agi!" Alice commanded. Flaming card hitting it.

"How dare you put your hands on me! I'll crush you!" The Shadow exclaimed. It then went airborne.

"What's it doin!?" Vinnie asked.

"I don't know! But it's planning something! Keep your guard up!" Alice said.

"Take this!" The Shadow flew around in circles and it summoned a whirlpool, hitting the Persona users, knocking them all down.

"Now, I'm gonna deal with you!" The Shadow said, getting closer to the real Natalie.

"I guess this is what I deserve. For not helping Mary." She said.

"That's right. It's all your fault." The Shadow said.

"Hey, bird bitch!"

"You talking to me, curly hair?" The Shadow said, looking at Philip.

"Yeah, that's right." He said, staggering to his feet. "Suck on this!" He chucked his switchblade, hitting it right in the eye.

"Curse you!" The Shadow screamed in agony.

"Come, Pixie! Kouha!" The pixie summoned a ball of light, propelling it at the Shadow, causing it great pain. It collapsed on the floor and turned back into its human form.

The Shadow got up to its feet. The real Natalie walked up to it.

"About what you said. You're right. People only like me because of my looks, but Mary was the first one that didn't want to befriend me just because of my looks. I'm a hopeless airhead that's only good at cheerleading. I did come here because I wanted to avenge her, but I also wanted to prove that I'm not some useless airhead. You're me, and I'm you." The Shadow then turned into a woman with a white nightgown with dove wings, pale white skin, and Natalie's long blonde hair. (Yeah, I suck at coming up with original Personas) It then turned into a card and disappeared in her hands.

"Aphrodite…" She then turned around to face the three. "I'm sorry I rushed in here on my own."

"Don't worry about it. If it were my friend, I'd probably do the same." Philip said.

"No worries." Vinnie said.

"So who's the bunny girl?" Natalie asked.

"This is Alice. She's helped us out a lot." Philip said.

"You're so cute! I can't believe you're an actual bunny girl!" Natalie gushed.

Alice blushed.

The four returned to the waiting room.

"So that's what happens when you come here…" Natalie said.

"Yep. By the way, you'll need this." Alice said, handing her a pink surgical mask.

"I saw you guys wearing those. Why?" Natalie asked.

"It protects you from getting sick from the Shadows." Philip said.

"I see… If what you say is true about this place. I don't want another person to die." Natalie said.

"Same here." Vinnie said.

"Yeah, we won't fail again. We need to look find people who are sick and go in here and help them out during after school and weekends." Philip said.

"You sound like a leader, Phil." Vinnie said.

"Not a bad idea." Alice said. "His power to use different Personas is pretty unique. Plus, he has a better head on his shoulders than us."

"If you guys think he should be leader, then we'll go with that. I'm not the captain type." Natalie said.

"And I'm more of an enforcer." Vinnie said.

"Leave to me, then." Philip said.

Time froze.

 **I am thou**

 **Thou art I**

 **Thy bond has been strengthened**

 **Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool arcana**

Time returned to normal.

"Let's get out of here. I really need a nap." Natalie said.

The three exited the hospital and went home.

Chapter 4 end


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Before I start, here's a bio of Natalie's Persona.**

 **Aphrodite**

 **Arcana: Lovers**

 **Affinities:**

 **Strike:**

 **Slash:**

 **Pierce:**

 **Fire:**

 **Ice:**

 **Wind:**

 **Lightning:**

 **Water: strong**

 **Earth:**

 **Nuclear:**

 **Psychic:**

 **Light: weak**

 **Darkness:**

 **Skills so far:**

 **Aqua**

 **Marin Karin**

 **Patra**

Thursday – September 4 – early morning

Morning classes were cancelled to hold a eulogy for Mary in the gym. It ended about 45 minutes later and the students were told to return to their homerooms. But Natalie remained there. "If you were still here, you'd probably try to find a way to stop the sickness. You were all about helping people. I'll stop it in your stead. I swear I won't let anyone fall victim to it again. So please watch over me."

Philip put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'll be okay." She said.

"You sure?" Philip asked.

"Yeah. I'm done crying and doing nothing. I'm going to do something. So please, whenever you're going to that old hospital, take me with you." She said.

"Of course."

"Thank you." She said, giving the most beautiful smile Philip has ever seen. Time froze.

 **I am thou**

 **Thou art I**

 **Thou hast established a new bond**

 **Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Lovers arcana**

Time returned to normal.

"Now let's get back before we get in trouble." Philip said, blushing a bit.

September 4 – lunchtime

The three Persona users decided to sit together. "So exactly how are we supposed to find the next sick person?" Natalie asked.

"Alice told us that they don't have the will to live." Philip said.

"But there are a shit ton of depressed people specially teenagers." Vinnie said.

"True, and we can't just go in there unprepared. We were nearly killed a couple of times already." Philip said. "It'd be easier if we had some weapons with us instead of just our Personas."

"I know a place where we can go." Vinnie said.

"There's such a place here?" Natalie questioned.

"Sure is. I can take you dere after school."

"Look, Peter's back." Natalie said, pointing at a student. He was a massive dude. He was an absolute giant. He was wearing a white button up shirt and khakis and was wearing black dress shoes. He had black hair in a crew cut and brown eyes.

"Who?" Philip asked.

"That's Peter Bayley. He's been out for awhile because he had surgery for his gigantism." She said.

People were getting up and walking out of their tables when he went to find one. Philip noticed some of them were calling him a freak.

"Do people always avoid him like that?" Philip asked.

"Yeah. I don't know why. He's a really nice guy." She said.

"People are assholes." Vinnie said, scoffing at them.

September 4 – after school

Vinnie lead the group to a strip mall. All the stores were abandoned except for the store in the middle. There was a large sticker on the window that read Ammu-Nation.

"A gun store?" Natalie questioned.

"Dat ain't all they sell. Come on, I'll show ya." Vinnie said, opening the door.

It was rather surprising. There was a huge variety of weapons on display from katanas to AKs. There was a middle aged man behind the counter. He had a buzzcut and a brown handlebar moustache and sideburns. He wore a white tank top and wearing dog tags around his neck. He had on camo shorts and white sneakers.

"Ah, you're that Italian kid that bought that switchblade the other day." The manager said.

"Yep. They were interested so I brought them here." Vinnie said.

"Well, it ain't my business what you kids do with them. If the cops ask, you didn't get them here, alright?"

The three nodded.

"I'll pick this one out." Philip said, looking at the naginata. "Why dat one?" Vinnie questioned.

"In my second year of middle school, my parents had work in Japan, and I was a member of the school's spear club." Philip said confidently.

"That naginata is able to fold up so you can fit it in a bag or a sheathe or something." The manager said.

"I'm gettin' this!" Vinnie said, picking up a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. "Lucile and I are gonna fuck up some Shadows!"

"Then I'll get this." Natalie said, picking up a large crossbow.

"That crossbow there actually belonged to Van Hellsing." The manager said. "I'll give you twenty bolts, free of charge."

"You know how to use dat?" Vinnie asked.

"Uh huh. I used to be a part of our school's archery club until the board closed it down due to not having enough members." She said. "Wait, how we gonna pay for all this?"

"We got the money. Those Shadows drop cash all the time. You can also find it in chests." Philip said.

"Oh, really? That's cool. But won't people get suspicious about us spending money all the time?" Natalie questioned.

"That ain't a problem. We'll just say we got jobs." Vinnie said.

The Persona users payed for their weapons. The manager gave them a gym bag to put them in. Philip didn't want Patricia and Stephanie to worry about him. So the three decided to store the bag in the old hospital's waiting room.

The gang had some money left over, so they decided to get some food from Big Bang Burger. Philip also got some burgers for Patricia and Stephanie.

September 4 – evening

"I'm home." Philip said, entering the house.

"Welcome back, Philly." Alice greeted. Wait, Alice?

"Alice!? What the hell are you doing here!?" Philip exclaimed with anime white eyes. She looked slightly different. She was wearing a black short skirt and blue T-shirt. She also had regular human ears instead of rabbit ears.

"You don't want me to be here?" Alice said, giving him the puppy dog eyes. She honestly looked adorable as fuck.

"I-I didn't say that." Philip stammered. "I'm just asking why you're here."

"That musty old place isn't for a girl like me. Besides, I need to keep an eye on you all. You probably won't be able to know who the next victim is. But I can tell right away. You'd be lost without my help. So I'll be going to your school tomorrow."

"How'd you even find out where I live?" Philip asked.

"When I came out, I asked a lady if she knew where Philip Wheeler lived, turns out that woman was your guardian. I told her I was your friend from your hometown and I came here as a part of an exchange program, and she was kind enough to let me crash here. Oh, and I have no idea why I don't know why my rabbit ears are gone. Well, it'll let me blend in easier." She said.

"Welcome home, Philip." Patricia said, walking in. "It must be wonderful to see your friend again. Alice is such a sweet girl and those old clothes of mine look good on her, don't you think?"

"Y-Yeah, it is." Philip said, deciding to play along. "By the way, I brought home some burgers." He gave Patricia the bag.

"That's so kind of you, Philip. Thank you." Patricia said.

"I only got something for you and Steph. I didn't know Alice was coming so I don't have anything for her."

"That's okay, I'm not hungry. Plus, I'm a vegetarian." Alice said.

"I'll buy some vegetarian food the next time I go grocery shopping so don't you worry." Patricia said.

"Thank you, ma'am." Alice said.

"You can just call me Patricia, sweetie."

"Where will she sleep, though" Philip asked.

"She can just sleep in your room."

"W-What!?" Philip exclaimed, his face turning red.

"Stephanie's bed is too small and my bed frame is fragile. It'll collapse with too much weight. You're a nice boy, I know you won't try anything."

"I wanna see what our room's like." Alice said, dragging Philip upstairs.

"This place is pretty nice." She then plopped on the bed. "Ah, this bed is comfy. I promise I won't be a burden on you. Since I'm living here I'll do my share of the housework. And, if it's not too much trouble, maybe you can show me how things work in your world."

"I don't mind. In fact, I'd be happy to." Philip said.

Time froze

 **I am thou**

 **Thou art I**

 **Thou hast established a new bond**

 **Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Fortune arcana**

Time returned to normal.

Alice pointed at the laptop on the table asking what it was. He taught her the ins and outs of the computer and she picked it up very quickly. She managed to pull up RWBY and was completely enthralled with it.

It got really late after a couple of hours. They decided to go to bed. Philip had unfortunately was having trouble sleeping. Turns out Alice is a hugger. She held on to him all night.

Chapter 5 end


End file.
